1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of multimedia communications and, more particularly, to a method and device for streaming and/or storing high quality, real time multimedia information over a wireless telecommunications network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the availability of multimedia information (e.g., audio, video, data, etc.) to consumers has grown tremendously. Currently, with the popularity of the Internet, high quality, digital multimedia information can readily be obtained by a user of a personal computer hard wired to a multimedia server over the Internet.
One common example is the transmission and downloading of digital audio data files (e.g., music) from a multimedia server connected to a user's computer over the Internet. The user is able to select desired audio files from a list of such files stored in or otherwise accessible by the multimedia server. To ensure high quality and minimal degradation of the original audio source, such digital audio files are typically encoded and compressed in a file format, such as MPEG, audio layer 3 (“MP3”). Software stored on the user's computer (e.g., MP3 player) enables the user to play such downloaded digital audio data files by opening, decoding and decompressing the audio file at the user's computer.
In addition to downloading and storing such digital audio files to a user's computer over the Internet, it is also known to stream the audio data file to the user's computer from the multimedia server over the Internet without otherwise downloading or permanently storing the audio file in the user's computer. Streaming of the audio data file allows the user to decode, decompress and play the audio file almost immediately without waiting for the complete audio data file to first be downloaded to the user's computer.
In today's increasingly mobile society, it is desirable for a user to access and play high quality multimedia files using a portable device that can be carried by the user. Existing portable devices play MP3 audio data files that have previously been downloaded to the user's computer and then downloaded from the computer to the portable device over a cable connection (e.g., through a serial port on the computer). These existing devices utilize the user's computer as an intermediate connection between the portable device and the multimedia server to ultimately store MP3 audio files on the portable device. A disadvantage of such existing devices is that the user must select the particular audio files to be downloaded to the portable device, and arrange to download and store such files in the device prior to using the portable device. Furthermore, while advances have been made on the available memory in such portable devices, the number of audio files that can be downloaded and stored in the portable device continue to be limited by the memory associated with the device.
It would be advantageous to have a portable device capable of playing multimedia files, such as high quality, digital audio files, in real time without first having to download the preselected files from the user's computer for ultimate transfer and storage in the portable device prior to playing. It would also be advantageous for the user to access such files in the multimedia server without using the user's computer as an intermediate connection to the multimedia server. To avoid the entertainment industry's concerns over unauthorized reproduction of such copyrighted multimedia files, it would be desirable for the portable device to be capable of playing the multimedia file without storing the multimedia file in the device's memory for subsequent use.